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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rush · tube · toast · squash · kick · cap · field · game

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. cap — a lid
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. squash — to crush
  6. squash — the sport
  7. kick — in football
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. tube — a container
  10. game — a match
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. rush — hurry
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. field — a subject
  17. tube — the underground
  18. cap — of ice
  19. game — wild animals
  20. field — for sport
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. field — farmland
  24. cap — a hat

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com